Loophole in credit card debt

kE1701

Hi can anyone help me with this problem. My sister split from her partner in Sept. Sometime before that he asked my sister to transer two of his credit card balances onto her credit card as she was offered a 0% interest. He originally agreed to continue to make the payments and to sort out transfering them back to a card in his name but has not done this yet. He has just started to work for a firm of accounts as a claims director and has told her that he is going to use the credit card loophole to get the debt written off by requesting a copy of the original credit agreement which is about 15 years old. My sister has signed a letter to give permission for him to act on her behalf however she is not receiving any copies of any correpsondance (or mail that is going to his address) When she asks whats happening he says that he is dealiing with it. However she is now getting call and texts from the credit card company about payments as he has not made any! Is there anything further she can do? The credit card is in her name only!

TheEffect

She's in big trouble unfortunately. NEVER transfer someones debt into your name, no matter if they're your partner or not. He's been missing payments and her credit rating is being damaged because of it.

It's not up to him to make payments, it's up to her, as the card is in her name. He has no obligation to pay the debt, it's nothing to do with him, as it's all been transferred into her name.

She needs to start paying the card, otherwise she'll default and get more missed payments on her credit report, meaning she wont be able to get credit in the future as her credit reports will be ruined.

Also, the method that he is using to get the credit written off, will destroy her credit report in the process. If he gets the debt written off, it'll still destroy her credit rating.

Silly, silly girl.

Tonyr

Here's a scenario. If a couple decide to take out a credit card, but in the girlfriends name only with the boyfriend being a joint cardholder and throughout the relationship they amass a collective £10k worth of bills and then seperate couldn't the girlfriend argue that the debt has been jointly amassed? If the primary cardholder obtained statements showing holdiay bills, purchase of furniture, etc wouldn't the courts deem that the debt has been acquired jointly throughout the relationship and request the joint cardholder to pay his share??

Satnav_2

I would go to the police.

ILW

I would guess he has taken a commision from the claims company for signing her up as well. (Claims Director = Commision based salesman)

ILW

Tonyr wrote: »

Here's a scenario. If a couple decide to take out a credit card, but in the girlfriends name only with the boyfriend being a joint cardholder and throughout the relationship they amass a collective £10k worth of bills and then seperate couldn't the girlfriend argue that the debt has been jointly amassed? If the primary cardholder obtained statements showing holdiay bills, purchase of furniture, etc wouldn't the courts deem that the debt has been acquired jointly throughout the relationship and request the joint cardholder to pay his share??

I think the best she could do is try to sue him for the value of the goods, it is nothing to do with the card company though.

pre123

Satnav wrote: »

I would go to the police.

and say what exactly??
nothing illegal has happened, she allowed debt to be transferedto her card with her permission and now the bf is now the ex who isnt paying.. result she is now solely responsable for the debt
as frustrating as it is she should start paying as least the minimum before her credit rating takes any more of a battering

Satnav_2

pre123 wrote: »

and say what exactly??
nothing illegal has happened, she allowed debt to be transferedto her card with her permission and now the bf is now the ex who isnt paying.. result she is now solely responsable for the debt
as frustrating as it is she should start paying as least the minimum before her credit rating takes any more of a battering

If it were me, and let's be very clear here - I am not giving advice it is purely a description of what I may choose to do in a hypothetical situation - is explain that I had been deliberatly decived (I believe deception is a crime) as the payments that were agreed are not being made.

If the police didn't help me I would seek legal advice.

simon_templar_2

The police will not be one bit interested as it is a civil matter. Need to get advice from a lawyer on this one.

NickX

simon_templar wrote: »

The police will not be one bit interested as it is a civil matter. Need to get advice from a lawyer on this one.

Agreed it is a civil matter and the police will take no interest.

Right, legally this is your sister's debt. Whatever "arrangement" she made with her partner, in the eyes of the creditors it is your sister that owes these funds and it is your sisters credit file that will be getting damaged.

She need to take control of this situation. She needs to assess the debt, find out precisely how much is owed and how much she is in arrears.

Then she needs to decide how best to handle the situation. Generally the first thing to do when you are paying extortionate amounts of interest to a Card Provider is to move the debt onto a 0% card by way of a Balance Transfer. In this case I suspect that the damage will already be done and that she would not be accepted for a new 0% card - its worth a try though just incase the negative feedback isn't showing yet.

Next determine what the situation is with the CCA requests. If these have been requested and not been supplied then yes the debt is unenforceable and she does not have to make payments. But she needs to be controlling this process and sending the requests to the Creditors.

Due to the complexity of the situation it may well be helpful if she goes to the CAB (Citizen's Advice Bureau) and explains the situation. They offer a free service, they will negotiate with creditors on your behalf and have access to professional legal advice if required. They can also assist with getting the correct letters in place to request CCAs and advice on their enforcability.

Good Luck.

mark236

She has well and truly been conned. Cops will say it is civil unless he actually lied to coerce her. If he did lie the first threaten him with the police, he sounds like a slimeball.